AUT INVENIAM VIAM AUT FACIAM

Throught the Looking Glass, Or Even Better Than the Real Thing, chapter two

[Apologies re formatting, again. But at least this isn’t about robots. Also, please note that italics don’t transfer, and that all mistakes are the result of formatting problems. Love –dbm]

two

Calvin thought about the after-event interview, as it was called. He figured it went well. He knew it went much better than previous sessions. After the first, for example, he’s told he “cracked.”

Since learning what he did, he’s come to know what it means. It means that Calvin totally rejected reality and felt as though he had finally been born into real life when plugged into what he’s learned is called the Other Universe, but usually OtherVerse for short or just OV for even shorter.

Calvin wanted back into OV. He’d forgotten how long this trial was supposed to last. So far he’s been in OV five times. One week. Plus the week he was cracked. Plus the weeks of psy-tests. …Which he now knew never had been discontinued.

He imagined, considering the state of reality — the shitty one —

Calvin now only saw sense in lives lived in OV. And he didn’t know if the study would mean its shutdown. And he didn’t care.

By the end of the study, he’d be in OV. He’d be plugged in and make goddam sure he couldn’t be unplugged.

Because preferring not-reality is perfectly sane. And whatever else didn’t matter because OV would be his only reality.

…Which meant he needed to use his time in OV better, and cut down on his sexual desires (which he first experienced in OV).

Or his efforts in realizing these desires, at least.

“At what price freedom?” Calvin was surprised to hear himself say this aloud, especially since he didn’t quite know what it meant.